


Piano Man

by PaperThinRevolutionary (SingFortissimo)



Category: Hamilton - Miranda
Genre: A little bit of pining, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, First Date, M/M, Secret Santa Fic, piano playing, some eavesdropping
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-01-10
Updated: 2017-01-10
Packaged: 2018-09-16 15:50:04
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,392
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9278669
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SingFortissimo/pseuds/PaperThinRevolutionary
Summary: Thomas has a good idea of how to impress Hamilton, but he's having a bit of trouble actually making himself go through with it. Through a series of events, he gains the courage and thinks of what he believes to be a pretty clever ploy to get Hamilton on his side.





	

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Devon!](https://archiveofourown.org/gifts?recipient=Devon%21).



Impressing him was the first step. After that it was easy. 

After that it was easy. 

_Easy._

God _damnit_ , this was usually easy. 

Thomas clenched his fists together, slamming them onto the delicate ivory only to earn a gross noise, somewhere between a cat being skinned alive and a chorus of angry bagpipers in the distance. 

His hands never shook, not like this. Not this badly. Not at the thought of _impressing him_. Since when did Thomas care? 

Since he realized how goddamned beautiful Hamilton was. 

_Fuck._

His hands raised up to rub his eyes, and he let out a discontented little groan, displeasure echoing through the parlor while he forced himself to his feet, beginning to pace. 

There was just no good reason for this to be getting to him in any way. Hamilton was his enemy. Hamilton wasn’t someone for him to be swooning over, no. He was someone for Thomas to destroy, to rip apart with sound logic, solid argument and truths so big that the tiny man couldn’t contain him in his little stature. 

He was so little. Thomas still couldn’t get over that fact. The biggest powerhouse he knew, the strongest personality he had ever met, packed up so tightly in 5’3” of pure anger. Truly, it was miraculous to see. How could someone an entire foot shorter than him nearly overpower his energy every time they were in a room together?

Absolute madness. 

Thomas shook the thoughts from his mind and glanced back to the clock on the wall. He still had half an hour before Hamilton was supposed to come over (thanks, James), and he was burning daylight. 

He had everything prepared for the evening, at least.

The cooks had prepared dinner, the house had been tidied, and the plans had been laid out on the coffee table. 

Of course, those would hopefully not be touched that evening. 

Thomas wanted to take this chance to do something he had been intending to do for a very long time. 

He wanted to, finally, ask Hamilton to be his partner. 

The spark was there, on both sides. He could feel it, Hamilton could feel it, and both of them had outwardly mentioned it when they thought the other was nowhere around. Thomas could remember hearing Alexander spill every bit of it to Lafayette… 

_**~~**  
He didn’t mean to eavesdrop, really, but there was something compelling about Hamilton’s voice. The other man obviously didn’t know that they had been sitting in the same cafe, otherwise this wouldn’t have been an issue anyway. Thomas recognized his voice immediately, but Hamilton seemed blissfully unaware of the other man’s presence._

_Much to his chagrin, Thomas couldn’t keep his ears from tuning into the conversation just a few booths away from where he sat. Especially not once he heard his name mentioned._

_Hamilton’s rapid-fire speech wasn’t always easy to catch up with, or jump into, but after working with—and against—him for so long, Thomas could manage with a little bit of focus._

_“—and it’s just… I don’t even know anymore, Laf. I really don’t. But there’s something there. Something. I don’t know what, but it’s like intuition, you know? When a thought is just right there, nagging at you until you can place your finger on it. I can just feel it._

_“Anyway, it’s like.. There’s something drawing us together, I guess? Call it infatuation, call it mutual hatred, but there’s something. And I want to get to the bottom of it. It’s going to drive me goddamn mad if I spend all this time thinking about Jefferson. Of all people, why_ Jefferson? _It really feels unfair. God’s trying to punish me or something. Maybe Cupid. Is it too soon to say something like that? I don’t even know. How soon is too soon, anyway? When would that thought even be appropriate? It has been a long while, it’s not like all of this is new, it’s just sort of a new realization._

_“No, that doesn’t seem right either. Not a realization? An acceptance maybe? Yeah, I guess that would work. The acceptance. Does that still sound wrong to you? I can’t figure it out—”_

_“Alexander, you are speaking too quickly. Take a breath, please, and slow your thinking. I know that may be hard for you but I can barely follow you.” Lafayette finally interrupted. Thomas saw him raise his hands, rub his temples, then raise his glass to his lips._

_Hamilton huffed and slumped in his seat, arms folding over his chest like a dejected toddler._

_Thomas found it endearing._

_Thomas also wanted to punch himself for the thought._

_He made sure to sit low in his seat, making sure that Lafayette wouldn’t catch a glance of him. More importantly, making sure that Hamilton couldn't catch a glance of him. Finally, he heard the other man begin to speak again._

_“I guess it’s just weird? The more I think about it… Well.. I don’t know.” He actually paused. Took a breath, then a sip of his coffee. “Talking this out with someone else made a difference, I guess. It’s… Not clear, but it’s getting there.” Thomas could hear the smile slipping into his tone. “Well… You spend so much time hating someone, you never really realize that the hatred is gone until it’s a complete 180. I thought he was my mortal enemy, but… Shit. I guess I was wrong.” Hamilton almost sounded scared of the revelation. “I actually want to get to know him. Outside of work, outside of our fights. It’s the weirdest thing, Laf…”_

_“Then get to know him, mon petit léon. You do not always have to hide behind this tough face. You can try and make up. Try and be friends. If not for you, then for me, so I can invite you both over and not have to fear you destroying my flat?” Lafayette gave a small laugh, a big smile._

_Hamilton returned the laugh, Thomas could almost hear him roll his eyes. “Yeah, yeah. I guess you’re right. I could give it a shot. I’ll try to talk to him by the end of the week. Thanks, Laf.”_

_Thomas stopped listening for the most part at that point, hearing their conversation begin to shift back to work topics, or other things going on respectively in their—mostly Laf’s—lives. That conversation was definitely not what Thomas expected when he stepped into that cafe. He certainly hoped he could get it out of his mind when he left, because the giddy feeling it left in his stomach wasn’t exactly ideal to take back to work with him._

_**~~** _

Of course, he could remember as well when Hamilton heard him in the exact same situation just about two weeks later, when he had been caught confessing damn near the same thing to James. It was absolutely terrifying…

_**~~** _

_The silence in the office was deafening, and the eye contact that James and Thomas were sharing was just as uncomfortable. Finally, James broke it._

_“Why did you call me in here, Thomas? We should both be working.” He frowned and crossed his arms, leaning back further into the seat, causing it to creak a little._

_Thomas leaned forward and held his head in his hands. “Alright. Shit.” He rubbed his temples, then dropped one hand, tapping his fingers slowly on the desk. He sucked in a breath. “I need to talk to you about something, I want you to be honest with me. You know me better than anyone else, and, well..” Shit._

_He looked up now, catching the look of concern in James’ eyes before he spoke again._

_“I think I’m falling for Hamilton.”_

_“You what now?” James sat back and raised his brows, stifling a cough into his handkerchief. “I’m not sure that I heard you right.”_

_“You did, I.. Yeah. Okay. So the thing is, I.. Heard him a few weeks ago, talking to Lafayette, and he, well.. He said… A lot. Long story short, he said he had feelings for me. And I’ve been… Sort of in the same situation for a while? But I don’t really know what to do.”_

_“So you’re finally aware of what’s going on, huh?” He raised a brow, earning a confused sound and a frown from Thomas._

_“What the hell are you talking about?”_

_James laughed a bit, but it turned into a soft cough, which he again stifled into the handkerchief. “It’s not like the two of you are subtle. The entire office is aware. We can literally all feel the tension between the two of you.”_

_Thomas’ jaw dropped. “Whaaaaat.”_

_“You’ve never been subtle. I don’t know why you’re surprised.” James rolled his eyes a little. “So are you going to do anything about it? You _finally_ realized the feeling is mutual, so you may as well act on it.” _

_As James spoke, Thomas slumped lower down into his seat. Shit, he had a point, but how would he even bring that up? ‘Hey, Hamilton, I overheard that private conversation, the feeling is mutual, let’s fuck’?_

_He still felt hopeless._

_“Just give it a chance, Thomas. It’ll be fine. And even if it isn’t, you tried. Now come on. We need to get back to work. Just ask him.” James pushed his chair back and stood, stretching his back for a moment, and in that second of silence, Thomas could swear he heard someone bolting from outside the door._

_**~~** _

Shaking those memories away, Thomas finally sucked in a breath and forced himself back down, settling at the piano again. 

After all of that, this had been his genius plan. To win Hamilton over with some grand gesture, a dinner composed of his favorite foods, some fancy wine, and an opening act of Thomas making a fool of himself at the piano. But he knew Alexander liked the piano, knew he had always held a silent pride in his love and knowledge of the classics, always found some strange comfort in the Baroque compositions Thomas could hear him playing in the office at any odd hour. 

He had, of course, settled for something a few light-years away from Baroque. It was never much his style, and he knew in the short time between his planning and the event that he couldn’t attain any sort of mastery in Baroque style. It wasn’t any sort of surprise that the man made of chaos would fall for the chaos of the style. 

No, Thomas had opted instead for something a little softer. Sweeter. Baroque couldn't convey the message that he wanted to get out there, and he knew that already. Maybe he would play it for Hamilton if he agreed to a second date. 

He took his seat again at the piano, placing his fingers down on the keys and tapping absently at them one by one, playing the scales all the way through before he sucked in a breath and started to play the song again, the one he hoped would win Hamilton over. 

After playing the song twice more, pausing between to stretch out his fingers again and drink a small glass of wine to calm his nerves, the time had come. Hamilton was to arrive soon. So he stood up, straightened his clothes, and sighed. He was terrified, but his demeanor wouldn't allow that insecurity to be seen. 

Damn near right on time, there was a knock at the door. Thomas had to keep himself from running to answer it. He forced himself to walk slowly, take another breath before he opened the door, look out the peep-hole just to be sure, to make sure he wasn’t going to be excited for nothing. 

Sure enough, there he was. Hamilton, standing to make himself appear taller (how cute) and fiddling with the sleeves of his sweater.

Goddamnit, he was adorable. 

Thomas slowly opened the door and gave the other man a sincere smile. “Hamilton.” He nodded his head once before stepping aside to let the other inside.

Hamilton peeked into the door and gave a small smile of his own before stepping in. He took his time looking around before Thomas practically ushered him into the kitchen, then offered him a glass of wine. 

“Dinner should be done soon,” He said softly, lifting his glass in a toast. Hamilton lifted his own and tapped the rims together before he took a sip, humming contentedly. 

Thank god, he was right about the vintage he chose. He smiled a little and vaguely gestured back to the sitting room, his heart beginning to pound in his chest when he piano was within eyeshot again. 

Here goes everything. 

He took a seat on the bench, and Alexander leaned against the piano, watching Thomas with a hawk-like precision. 

It was an awkward silence for a few seconds, until they both spoke at the same time. 

“I need to tell you something. Shit. You first.” 

That just struck more silence. 

Finally, Thomas just gestured to Alexander. 

He sucked in a breath and nodded. “I heard you and..James.” He said softly. 

“I heard you and Lafayette.” Thomas responded. 

“Oh.” 

“Yeah.”

“Well.. Now what?” He asked softly, starting to shift his weight a little nervously. Thomas traced his fingers over the keys, tapping at a few notes before he just started to play, doing what he had initially planned to. 

His eyes were shut tight, and soon all the tension left his body. Soon enough, it was just the music. He continued to play the gentle melody, pouring out every bit of emotion he bottled up in his chest for the past…. God, he didn't even know how many months. 

When his fingers lifted from the keys, and he finally opened his eyes again, his breath seemed to have been sucked from his body. Right there, staring at him with large and fascinated eyes, stood Alexander. 

Wait. 

When had he started thinking of him as Alexander? 

_Shit._

Thomas let their eyes meet, and he was absolutely taken aback by how… How gentle Alexander seemed. How sincere that look was. It was a side of Alexander that Thomas had never seen before. 

Maybe this night wouldn’t be so difficult after all. 

Once he had calmed himself down, he realized something. 

Impressing Alexander had been easy. 

Maybe, just maybe, this would all work out after all.

**Author's Note:**

> hello hello hello!!  
> my secret santa fic for the discord chat, and my first real attempt at writing Thomas! I really hope this isn't too terrible, and i apologize for the terrible joke in the description. 
> 
> anyway!!! i hope you enjoy, and merry christmas, dev!! 
> 
> until next time,  
> -krys <3


End file.
